CINCINNATI — On a night when the fireworks were aplenty for the Mets, it was Brandon Nimmo who provided the first — and biggest — sparks.
They beat the Reds, 7-4, for their 50th win of the season on Monday night behind Nimmo’s big game: 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, a walk and a 12-pitch at-bat that ended with a lineout but included four consecutive fouls of 100-mph fastballs.
Most of his plate appearances were either outright productive or otherwise instructive. He began the game with a single, rocketing a ground ball 107 mph to rightfield, illustrating that Reds rookie righthander Hunter Greene was very hittable despite his triple-digit fastball. When he batted again in the second, Nimmo crushed a three-run home run to right-center for the first runs of the game. His marathon at-bat came in the fifth, with Greene ramping up his four-seamer to a maximum of 100.6, eventually getting Nimmo on a slider. Francisco Lindor’s go-ahead homer came moments later.
About halfway through his last season before reaching free agency, Nimmo is hitting .272 with a well-above-average .782 OPS.
Taijuan Walker, meanwhile, turned in his fifth consecutive quality start, a six-inning, three-run effort that increased his ERA to 2.86. The lone blemish: a three-run homer from Brandon Drury, a utilityman and fleeting fan favorite for the 2021 Mets who is making an All-Star bid with the rebuilding Reds (27-52). His career-high 17th long ball of the year temporarily tied it at 3.
Walker struck out nine, walked one and retired 10 of 12 batters after Drury’s blast. While the Mets (50-30) have been without one ace, Jacob deGrom, for the whole season and without another ace, Max Scherzer, for more than half of it, Walker has been their most effective and reliable starting pitcher.
“He got into a groove as far as a pattern and routine and every fifth day and doing everything,” manager Buck Showalter said Monday afternoon. “I just think he got into a good place. What jumped out to me was how much he was in attack mode. You get a guy 0-and-2 and he would go get him.
“He’s been a real solid rock for us. He just seems to be in a good mental and physical state of mind. He really seems to be benefitting from staying on a consistent routine.”
The Mets rocked Greene for six runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. Long a top prospect with a triple-digit fastball, Greene has struggled significantly in his debut season, posting a 6.01 ERA at the midway point.
His fallibility was obvious early, when the Mets put four runners on base — but did not score a run — in the first inning.
They more than made up for that missed chance when Nimmo smacked his three-run home run in the second. Lindor added a solo shot in the fifth, on a four-seamer that was fast (99.8 mph) but poorly located (right down the middle of the plate). Greene exited with two runners on base, and both scored on Dominic Smith’s double off reliever Reiver Sanmartin.
Greene finished with five strikeouts, one walk and two hit batsmen.
“Big arm. Really big arm,” Showalter said before the game. “Doesn’t walk a lot of people. I watched some tape on him. He’s very capable. He’s got a big arm.”
Colin Holderman, making his first appearance since being called back up/returning from the injured list, worked around trouble to pitch a scoreless eighth inning, the first hold of his career. Seth Lugo worked a scoreless ninth for his third save.
